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(N0 Model.)

O. SHUTE.

MEANS PQR SECURING HOP STRINGS. No. 314,198. Patented Mar. 1 7, 1885.

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UNITE STATES AIENT FFlCEo ORLANDO SHUIE, OF OOOPER-STOIVN, NE\V YORK.

MEANS FOR SECURING HOP-STRINGS.

fiPECII'ICA'I'ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,198. dated March 17,1885.

I Application filed June 9. 1884. (No mode.)

To all whom it may concern.- V

Be it known that I, ORLANDO SHUTE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Cooperstown, in the county of Otsego and State of New York, have invcntednew and useful Improvements in Means for Securing Hop-Strings to the HopPoles, of which the following is a specification.

Previous to my invention it has been usual when stringing hop-yards to secure the strings for the vines to each pole before carrying them on to the next, by winding the cordabout a nail driven in the pole at the desired height above the surface of the ground. In consequenee of having to drive new nails in the posts every year, a labor which is diflicult and tedious, and owing to the fact that during high winds the nails wear the strings off, and also wear and chafe the vines, thereby causing considerable damage to the growing crops, the employment of nails or other rigid. projections at the lower portion of the hop poles to anchor the string to has been found very objectionable; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple means for securing the strings to the poles without the use of nails or other projections at the lower portion of the poles or the necessity of winding the strings about such projections, and at the same time to effect asaving of labor and time, as well as prevent the chafing and wearing of the vines incidental to the methods and means now usually employed for that purpose.

My invention therefore consists in the means hereinafter more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a hop-yard strung in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a detail view of the securing-hook.

The letter A represents the poles of a hopyard, and the letter B the strings or wires fastened thereto for the growing Vines to cling to.

In order to string a hopya-rd after the manner illustrated in the drawings, I fasten one end of the string to the top of a pole by looping it about a nail or plug driven in the pole near its top, or by winding the string around the pole above a knot or any other projection thereon. This forms a support to retain the string in place at the tops of the poles. After thus securing the string to the top of one of the poles I carry it downward in an oblique direction to and around the nextadjacent pole to a point at the desired height from the ground, and there secure it by means of a double or Sshaped hook, G, which is fixed on the cord about the pole, so that the strand in each hook draws in opposite directions and forms a complete loop around the pole, sub stantially as illustrated in Fig. l, the frictional contact of the parts being sufiicient to hold the strand in place. After the cord or wire has been thus secured to the pole I carry 6 the strand upward in an oblique direction to the top of the next pole, where it i's-secured,

as heretofore stated, from whence it is carried downward again to the next pole, to which it is secured by means of a wrap about the pole with the cord in another Sshaped hook, and

so on until the end of the string is reached, when the same is made fast to one of the poles or tied to another string, and the operationrepeated throughout the entire yard, the strings crossing each other between each two poles to form a kind of latticework, which gives the vines a strong and sure support.

The double or S-shaped hooks C may be made from wire or other suitable material, and when used to secure the strings around the poles, as stated, form a simple, cheap, con- ,venient, and durable fastening for keeping the strands in properposition at the lower portion of the-poles; also, by the employment of 8 a double or S-shaped hook for securing the strings to the lower portion of hop-poles, I do away with nails or other projections commonly used, which chafe and wear the vines, especially during the prevalence of winds. The Sshapcd hooks, being very simple in construction, may be manufactured at little cost, and by their use in the way stated a hop-yard can be strung in less time, with less labor, and

with moresatisfactory results than by any plan 5 known to me.

I am aware that it is not new to run th strands from the top of the pole to a lower position on an adjacent pole and from thence, to a higher point on the next pole, and I do [00 not claim such method of training as of my invention; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In combination with one or more 110p poles and a training-cord, a double or S-shapcd hook interposed about and between the approaching and departing strand at the lower part of the poles to anchor the hop-strand to the poles substantially as and for the purpose IO set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two attesting witnesses. V.

' ORLANDO SHUTE.

Attest:

HENRY O. OHUROH, J AMES WV. TUCKER. 

